A Birthday Present
by thecolorsoftwilight
Summary: Madge gets a toy for her birthday. Years later, when trying to help save Gale, she is reminded of the toy  For the Broken Challenge on the Starvation Forum


_"Happy Birthday Sweetheart" a young man said joyfully. He was well dressed and well groomed. Clearly he held some position of power._

_An attractive young woman moved from her spot next to him, handing a delicately wrapped package to the little girl sitting before them._

_"Be careful opening it dear," the woman cautioned._

_The little girl completely disregarded her mother's warning and ripped the paper off her gift. Her parents laughed at the child's actions. When the paper was all gone, a beautiful little doll was left in the girl's hand. It wore the most gorgeous pink dress. The face was painted so well it looked almost lifelike. Obviously, the doll's creator had been extremely talented._

_It stood on a pedestal, smiling at the child. But the toy confused the girl. How was she supposed to play with it? Trying to make the ballerina dance, she picked the doll up, only to have it fall apart in her hands. The ballerina no longer stood proud. She lay draped over the pedestal; her limbs were seemingly strewn about._

_The birthday girl started to cry. She had broken her brand new toy. Her mother reached out to comfort her, taking the toy in the process._

_"Darling, look," said her mother._

_The girl looked up; her ballerina was in her father's hands and fixed! He touched the bottom and the dancer fell over once more._

_"It's not really broken," her father began, " You just press this button at the bottom and it looks like it's broken. Here, now you try." He handed her the toy._

_She copied her father, pressing and re-pressing the button, watching the doll break and stand back up. The child played with her new toy for days._

Careful not to drop the vials of medicine Mother gave me, I run through the snow-covered streets as fast as I can. The bitter cold stung at my uncovered face. Unfortunately, never really having needed to run , I'm not very good at it. If only I could run like Katniss. If I had been raised like her, I would have no problem running. Katniss would have the vials to Gale in no time. She wouldn't even feel the cold.

When Mother told me what happened, I was devastated. What had my father's district become? We never had much money and the people were often hungry, but my father strived to keep District Twelve a peaceful place. But not only that, I had begun to fall for Gale. Quite hard.

At first it had been an acquaintance, right after Katniss was taken for the Games. A shared pain because we had just both lost a friend, nothing more than an occasional glance. As the Games went on, we did grow close; we would watch them together. Then we began to talk, about school and shared teachers- the ones we liked and the ones we hated. We talked about the people of the district, our parents, and our friends. But we never talked about Katniss or the Games. And when we watched them we just sat there in silence. I could see how badly it hurt him. So it always was left unsaid.

He was funny, smart, and good-looking. Everything any girl looks for in any boy. How could I not fall for him? It didn't take long. And sometimes, something he would say could convince me he felt the same, even though I knew he was in love with Katniss. And as much as I want Gale to be happy, I can only hope that Katniss will choose Peeta. Because then maybe I'll stand a chance. If she's truly over him, then he might move on.

I reach Katniss' house. I knock on the door and when she opens it, warm air floods out the door and surrounds me. I can see Gale in the background. He is laying on the table, limbs dangling over the edges, the gashes left by the whip visible. For a moment I am reminded of a toy I used to have as a child. It was a doll on a stand, you pushed a button and she fell apart. When you pushed the button again, the doll was fixed.

I give Katniss the medicine; she looks shocked.

"Mother sent them" I explain. I want to stay, but the sight of Gale is too much. I run off quickly.

I don't know what will happen between Gale and I. But I do know that he is nothing like my doll. He is broken and pushing a button isn't going to fix him.

**A/N: I got the idea while my little brother was watching Baby Looney Toons. Granny gives Taz a cowboy like the doll. He "breaks" it and tries to hide it from Granny. This was written for the Broken Challenge on the Starvation Forum...which you should check out! 'Specially if you are love Peeta. But then who doesn't? He's wonderful..And, as a bonus for every review I get I will donate 5 dollars to the District Revolution Fund...all proceeds go to help our favorite imaginary characters defeat the Capitol and their President! Yay! so review. Thanks!**


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